Ursi's Eso Garden

Your Competent Esoteric Guide

Tuesday, 31. October 2006

The Eye of Midnight & The Vault of Mystery

Not only for Halloween ...

This Mysterious Fortune-Telling Pendulum is ready to answer whatever questions you might wish to ask. The unblinking eye will spin above the center of the answer disc for a little while, slow untill it's nearly motionless ... and then mysteriously begin to swing either in a circle or a straight line. The direction of either motion will reveal the answer to your question, as the eye swings above the eerie finger-bones on the answer disc.

It's quick and easy to build and it WILL actually swing to give you a responce to your questions. Print it out and you're on your way to a VERY interesting experience!

This method of spirit communication is based upon a very old ritual known as 'rolling the bones'. Just toss the three Answer Cubes into the Vault of Mystery, shake well, concentrate on the question you want answered, and pour the cubes out onto any flat level surface. The cube that lands closest to you will reveal the answer to any question you might ask. The vault and cubes are quick and easy to build, so make a set before sundown and let the communications begin!

Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, is the time when we remember every saint who hasn’t been given their own day. Well, that is certainly how our Christian churches would want us to honour the last day of October. But for many, Halloween is all about guising, turnip lanterns and dooking for apples - which on the face of it doesn’t seem to have much to do with saints.

That's because long before Christianity reached our shores, Halloween was known by the older, darker and altogether more mystical name of Samhain.
Samhain is the time when the sun is furthest south of the equator. Ancient Celts considered it to be the beginning of their new year and the death of the old. It was a time of celebration, to give thanks for the summer harvest and to ask a blessing for the coming months.

Samhain was not just about year's end and the coming of winter. It was also the feast of the dead, the season of the earth’s decay when evil was held to wander the planet. The shield of the female warrior Skathcach was lowered, and the barrier between the two worlds faded. The forces of chaos invaded our globe, and the world of the living joined with the world of the dead.

And also by The Scotsman: What happened on Halloween 1590 in North Berwick is up for debate. What is certain is that the fragments of evidence handed down through centuries is a witches' brew of intrigue.North Berwick and the brew of tortured witches

Samhain (Scots Gaelic: Samhuinn) literally means “summer's end.” In Scotland and Ireland, Halloween is known as Oíche Shamhna, while in Wales it is Nos Calan Gaeaf, the eve of the winter's calend, or first. With the rise of Christianity, Samhain was changed to Hallowmas, or All Saints' Day, to commemorate the souls of the blessed dead who had been canonized that year, so the night before became popularly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or Hollantide.

November 2nd became All Souls Day, when prayers were to be offered to the souls of all who the departed and those who were waiting in Purgatory for entry into Heaven. Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry of celebrations from Oct 31st through November 5th, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark and to revel in its mystery.

... So as this Samhain approaches, what is ending in you? What do you have inside that it is time to let go of? No healing is complete until you get beyond recovery. Use Samhain to take the thirteenth step: Transformation. In the Tarot, the thirteenth card of the Major Arcana is Death, and it is ruled by Scorpio. Samhain occurs in Scorpio. The card of Death doesn't necessarily mean physical death (though it can mean that), but more productively, it can be seen as an inevitable heavy change or transformation. Something old must be gotten rid of to make room for something new to be able to come in. Use the magic of this time to say good-bye to an old habit or addiction, an old relationship, or anything else it is time to leave behind.

Lonegren looks at many other aspects of this season as well: its history, the role of the Crone Goddess, a special apple-bobbing divination practice, and more.

Elsewhere on the planet:
Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, is celebrated this week, from India to Bali.

Diwali comes from the Sanskrit words deepa and avail and literally means "row of lights." The festival is associated with several Hindu myths about the triumph of dharma (righteousness) over adharma (unrighteousness) and light over darkness.
Padmanabhan explains that one story holds that on Diwali, the Hindu Lord Krishna destroyed Narakasura, the demon and titan of hell who conquered and plundered heaven and Earth.

Time has come around again for one of the most celebrated and pompously enjoyed festivals of the Indian subcontinent. Diwali is back.
Though I have covered quite a few of the sweet dishes and savouries prepared specially for diwali, there are so many tasty crunchies prepared with special fervour and enthusiasm for this occasion.

Tihar, the festival of lights is one of the most dazzling of all Hindu festivals. In this festival we worship Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth. During the festival all the houses in the city and villages are decorated with lit oil lamps. Thus during the night the entire village or city looks like a sparkling diamond. This festival is celebrated in five days starting from the thirteenth day of the waning moon in October. We also refer to tihar as 'Panchak Yama' which literally means 'the five days of the underworld lord'. We also worship 'yamaraj' in different forms in these five days.

This week also brings us El Dia de los Muertos, Mexico's Day of the Dead.

What is the difference between Halloween and the Day of the Dead? Halloween is based on a medieval European concept of death, and is populated by demons, witches (usually women) and other images of terror -- all of them negative. The Day of the Dead, in contrast, is distinctly different, It is a uniquely Indo-Hispanic custom that demonstrates strong sense of love and respect for one’s ancestors; celebrates the continuance of life, family relationships, community solidarity and even finds humor after death -- all positive concepts!

This is an ancient festivity that has been much transformed through the years, but which was intended in prehispanic Mexico to celebrate children and the dead. Hence, the best way to describe this Mexican holiday is to say that it is a time when Mexican families remember their dead, and the continuity of life.

The original celebration can be traced to the festivities held during the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli, ritually presided by the goddess Mictecacihuatl ("Lady of the Dead"), and dedicated to children and the dead. The rituals during this month also featured a festivity dedicated to the major Aztec war deity, Huitzilopochtli ("Sinister Hummingbird") ...

Haunted spots -- fact or fiction? by Contra Costa Times.In Byron, the gutted, burned-out shell of a hotel stands blanketed in moonlight. In Antioch, leaves rustle in the trees of a dilapidated cemetery that stands in the shadow of a deserted old mine. With Halloween just around the corner, we asked Times readers to tell us about their favorite East Bay haunted spot or ghostly encounters. Here, we dig into 10 of those rumored hauntings, trying to separate fact from fiction.

List of 10 places that are rumored to be haunted.

Decades Later, the Dover Demon Still Haunts by Boston Globe.Twenty-nine years later, William Bartlett stands by his story of what he saw on Farm Street that night. It was an eerie human-like creature, he said, about 4 feet tall with glowing orange eyes and no nose or mouth in a watermelon-shaped head. "I have no idea what it was," Bartlett, now a 46-year-old artist living in Needham, said in a recent interview. "I defi- nitely know I saw something."

The Beast of Bladenboro by Star News Online.In 1954, a savage killer kept a small North Carolina town in a grip of terror. He left big tracks, a bloody trail and a hair-raising legend. Was it a bear? A vampire-cat? To this day, the creature remains a mystery. To this day, nobody really knows what, in 1954, went around killing dogs, goats, hogs and small cows in the most unusual way – breaking their jaws, crushing their heads flat and sucking the blood from their bodies, according to local newspaper reports.

The Shady Science of Ghost Hunting by LiveScience.Ghosts are big business. For entities that may or may not exist, they seem to be everywhere, especially during Halloween. They are in books and on television shows, such as CBS's "The Ghost Whisperer" and NBC's "Medium." Dozens of "ghost hunter" organizations exist across North America, small groups of self-styled ghost buffs who lurk around reputedly haunted places, hoping to glimpse or photograph a spirit.

Newburyport Witch Escaped Hangman's Noose by Daily News. Elizabeth Morse of Newbury was found guilty of witchcraft a dozen years before the 1692 Salem hysteria that even now engulfs that city and reaches its peak every Halloween. But instead of being hanged or crushed to death by stones - the preferred methods of punishment in Salem for 20 people - Morse was sentenced to a year in jail and the 17th-century equivalent of house arrest with an ankle bracelet.

A nice historical piece.

Color of food has its own significance which influences human body by Pravda.You have to be good at choosing right colors when you do interior decoration, buy clothes or have you hair dyed and your face made up. Color psychology and color therapy are concerned with the use of colors for healing purposes. The color revolution occurred in dietology a few years ago.

Secrets in the Stone by The Scotsman.On the south wall of Rosslyn Chapel, alongside the entrance historically used by women, is a very curious carving. It shows a blindfolded figure, kneeling between two pillars and holding a Bible, with a noose lying loosely around his neck. To anyone familiar with the rites of Freemasonry, this carving bears a remarkable similarity to a Masonic initiation ceremony. But if Alan Butler and John Ritchie, the authors of Rosslyn Revealed, are correct, the resemblance is anything but coincidental.

"Since the 1940's the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eye witness accounts and inside information." -- Source IMDb.

This UFO documentary was shown on Channel Five on May26, 2004. The documentary started by looking at claims that the Nazis had been working on circular craft with exotic propulsion systems, and that this technology was subsequently used in the development of various aeronautical projects. Kevin McClure and Mark Birdsall, editor of Eye Spy Magazine, spoke about these
claims.

The 1952 sighting involving RAF pilot Michael Swiney and his Royal Navy student David Crofts was featured, and formed a major part of the documentary, with both witnesses being interviewed. Interest expressed by the Duke of Edinburgh and Earl Mountbatten was covered, and Lady Pamela Hicks (Mountbatten's daughter) gave an interesting account of how the alleged landing of a UFO at Broadlands in 1955 was apparently made up by a man who was late for work, and used the excuse of a UFO encounter to explain his absence, playing on Mountbatten's well-known interest in the subject. Also covered was the extraordinary account of royal equerry Sir Peter Horsley's meeting with a mysterious individual called Mr Janus, who appeared to be able to read his mind, and knew all Britain's nuclear secrets.

The British UFO Files reveals a catalogue of unexplained, unearthly phenomenon, more bizarre than anything to be found within the pages of even the X Files.

The Bible has been called the best-selling book of all time, though the term itself comes from biblia, Greek for a collection of books. The Bible developed gradually, over many centuries, as the result of cultural interaction and exchange among many different societies. Over time, some texts were accepted as part of the canon of belief, while others were excluded as apocryphal and heretical. Out of this rich diversity and cultural complexity emerged the modern Bible.

In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000 tells the story of this formative period. The exhibition brings together a rare assemblage of several important early Hebrew and Christian bibles—the first time many of these fragile treasures have been shown to the public. This exploration of the Bible's first thousand years also reveals the parallel development of the book—one of the world's great technological revolutions.

From fragile fragments of papyrus and humble early parchment codices to resplendent illuminated manuscripts, In the Beginning presents the physical evidence of the earliest versions of both Bible and book.

Some of these manuscripts have remained in ancient monastic libraries or cathedral treasuries since they were written. Others have languished, concealed in desert caves, sealed up in long-forgotten rooms, or buried to await resurrection by archaeologists. Each has its own distinctive a tale to tell.

This exhibition presents over 70 of the earliest biblical artifacts in existence, including pages and fragments written in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian and Coptic. With video clips.

Forget the 'Face on Mars'! This one is much more spectacular and is on earth! Easily visible without using the imagination at all.

Google Earth spotters have discovered a strange rock formation in the prairies of central Canada that look like the face of an Indian. The rock formation is in Alberta, Canada about 300km southeast of Calgary, near the border with Saskatchewan. The rock formation's "face" measures about 255m across and its about 225m long.

You can check it out in Google Maps or just enter 50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W in Google Earth.

What are the chances of aliens sniffing us out? by New Scientist Space.Decades of passively monitoring microwave frequencies have failed to find any evidence of signals from extraterrestrial civilisations. Frustrated by the long silence, some researchers want to start transmitting signals towards nearby stars with possible habitable planets in a plan called "active SETI". However, others warn that this would be the equivalent of "shouting in the jungle", and that it is better to keep quiet for the time being.

Wildcat Mountain’s Secret by Vernon County Broadcaster."Most often it’s a wildcat," the man said. "That’s what I saw. Now some people don’t know what a wildcat is. So there’s been all sorts of confusion about bobcats, lynx and mountain lions... Now some say the form of the ghost goes way back. Back before the gold. I’ve seen the wildcat. He changes his size from house-cat size to big old Buick size. But sometimes you see just the shadow and not the cat himself."

Halloween's Top 10 Creatures by Pravda.Halloween's creepiest creature customs didn't appear out of thin air, not even the ghosts. Many of them once instilled real fear in medieval towns, when folklore reigned supreme and getting freaked out came easy. Here we offer up some real science and history of the scary stars of Oct. 31.

Russian scientists have discovered the cure for all diseases. Such claims from the doctors in local clinics might seem absurd at first. But do not rush to conclusions. Researchers of two well-known Russian institutes have almost simultaneously without contacting each other come up with “live” and “dead” water. Both have equal chances to become the cure for all sicknesses! MK reporters went in for an interview and a sip of miracle liquid.

“They found the skeleton over there,” says the curator Manuel da Silva while pointing to a nondescript piece of rock in the corner of the Liang Bua cave. “At the beginning they believed it was the remains of a ten-year-old boy because the skeleton was so small. However, further lab examinations showed that the skeleton was estimated to belong to a woman in her thirties. Somebody dubbed it the ‘Hobbit’ after a character in the Lord of the Rings movie, which was all the rage at the time,” says da Silva.

Legend has it: why scientists are turning to myths for inspiration by The Independent.The Oracle at Delphi is one of several myths now being investigated by geologists to see whether such stories have any basis in fact. The relatively new science of geomythology could provide rational explanations for mythical events. But studying elements of a myth may also lead to new insights or discoveries in geology - a science that took its name from that same goddess, Ge.

Werewolves of Elkhorn by Time Out Chicago.The hype has subsided, but the sightings continue—the most recent was in 2004. So here we sit, car lights dim and hopes high, scanning the brush and nearby cornfields, listening for howling coyotes or any other animal sounds. We’ve been waiting for hours…but nothing. No werewolves or manwolves; not even a goddamn Bigfoot. The werewolf known as the Beast of Bray Road is probably laughing at us. Or maybe he’s waiting to tear our lungs out.

Comets, the stuff of legend and myth, are frozen leftovers of the solar system's formation. Most orbit the Sun out beyond Neptune, but a few wander through the inner solar system now and then. As a comet gets closer to the Sun, solar radiation boils the frozen gases, along with dust, off the comet's surface. Sunlight reflects off this material, creating a head, or coma. Some comets never get very bright. Others brighten dramatically.

Two weeks ago I posted at The Yahoo Time Capsule.
I love the idea! Just appreciate what Yahoo is doing and view it as one step closer to world peace and the world banding together as one. I wish more companies would use there corporate dollars to unify the global village and create art.

The plan has changed a little bit - after Mexican officials refused to allow a laser transmitter to be mounted on an ancient pyramid, on Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán.

Now the Yahoo Time Capsule project being projected onto canyon walls and sent into space via a digital laser light beam at Jemez Pueblo, N.M., Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006. People from more than 200 countries have contributed over 70,000 pictures, video, writing, art and sounds to the ongoing project, which is accepting submissions until Nov. 8, 2006.

Throughout the evenings of Oct. 25-27, select submissions will be displayed continuously on the canyon walls where the Jemez Nation has lived since the 13th century.

Can't get off work to trek to New Mexico?
Don't worry, the entire event will be webcast live. Here are the details:

* When: October 25-27, 2006
* Where: Live from the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico
* Time: 7PM-1AM U.S. Mountain Time

The webcast will be archived and available all day if you miss the live show.

From a male in his 60s in Santa Fe NM, United States: "Because on some Special days, some Special One just... sparkles. And that reminds you of how fun EVERY day can be if we just remember to do it. To light it up when we have the chance. That's Suzie."

From a male in Malaysia: "I wish for the world to stop launching war against each other. I hope for world peace where everyone can live with a smile everyday, everytime, everywhere with everyone."

From a female in Metro Manila, Philippines: "What's beautiful is not on the outside, but on the inside. Beauty can be expressed in emotions, and emotions seen in a picture are beautiful, whether it's unlikeable or likeable. Everybody have their own different points of view."

There is nothing "paranormal" in the Universe, except our limited understanding of Nature. What we think we “know” on Earth now is just a tiny drop in the Ocean of Knowledge.

In the distant past, people admired things they could not explain and called them "miracles". Long ago, people were able to see Auras. Advanced spiritual people such as Buddha, Christ and their immediate students were painted with golden haloes around their heads, because some artists could actually see Auras. In Australia remote West Kimberleys you can find prehistoric cave paintings, many thousands of years old, depicting people with golden haloes. Nature gave us ALL we need to see Auras. All is required is the knowledge how to use your senses together with your conscious effort. If you decide not to try, you will NEVER see the Aura. On the other hand, when you SEE something for yourself, no longer will you need to rely on believing someone. You will KNOW. And you can use your knowledge to learn more.

Many great people in the past complained that "we have eyes and we do not see". Further in this document you will discover what they meant.
ANYONE can see auras to some degree. Rather than create an aura of mystery around my newly acquired skill, my approach is to show everyone what their eyes are capable of. When nearly everyone (including children) sees a similar thing, I consider this a part of our Nature and I say that it deserves our attention.

What is the Aura ?Everything in the Universe seems to be just a vibration. Every atom, every part of an atom, every electron, every elementary “particle”, even our thoughts and consciousness are just vibrations. Hence, we may define the Aura as a electro-photonic vibration response of an object to some external excitation (such as an ambient light for example). This definition is sufficient for the purpose of reading Auras, providing that we can train ourselves to see the Aura vibration.

The most important property of the Aura seems to be the fact that it contains INFORMATION about the object.

Aura around living (conscious) objects (people, plants ...) changes with time, sometimes very quickly. Aura around non-living object (stones, crystals, water...) is essentially fixed, but can be changed by our conscious intent. Above facts have been observed by scientists in Russia, who have been using Kirlian effect to study Auras for the last 50 years.

"The object of my art is to work with the creative process using symbols of reality and fantasy to produce paintings of transcendental thought".

Steven Peabody was born November 14, 1947 in Manhattan. He attended The School of Visual Arts in NYC, NY. Studying with, amongst other artists, Gil Stone. Gil Stone, introduced him to classical layering techniques, under painting and over painting, from the Renaissance period which had a profound influence on the the artist’s artistic evolution.

Early influences were Dali and Roberto Matta and during the 1980’s Ed Paashe and Alex Grey. Pivotal points came after art school when Peabody’s style developed from classical surrealism to biomorphic surrealism with the addition of sacred geometry.

Later exploration was a study of Mandalas which produced the “Diamond” series.

Returning to figurative work and experimenting with color bleeds and auras, in an effort to create luminous figures, he now works with composite figures and symbols to develop paintings involving human and spiritual directions.

Every year more than 50 million people die worldwide and the two main forms of funeral rites adopted by most are either cremation or burial. The Parsis (Zoroastrians) in Mumbai, India, a small community, leave their dead out in the open in the Towers of silence to be consumed by vultures. Through spiritual research methodologies, we examine the effect of each of these types of funeral rites from the point of view of helping our ancestors in the afterlife.

Out of all the types of funeral rites to let go of a body, committing it to cremation is the most beneficial. People who have lived relatively good lives, by the very act of burial increase their risk of becoming ghosts in the afterlife.

Sometimes we are attached to the form of funeral rite that our culture is used to. However, the spiritual repercussions of burial and being consumed by vultures needs to be weighed against one’s psychological attachment for a certain funeral rite.

Nowadays there is an increasing trend of people choosing cremation over burial as a funeral rite. The funeral rite of cremation that takes place either on a funeral pyre or in a crematorium does not dispose off the body totally. The remains are commonly known as ashes and are handed back to the family in an urn. The entire process from receiving the ashes to the scattering of the ashes is important from a spiritual point of view. Depending on the process adopted, we can either help our departed loved one to move on in the afterlife or we may be instrumental in their remaining earthbound. However the surviving relatives who receive the ashes in a cremation urn are generally unaware of the spiritually correct way of scattering the ashes.

The way we scatter the ashes of our loved ones after they are cremated, either helps them in the afterlife or obstructs their onward journey. Spiritual research conducted has shown that immersing ashes in water alone can benefit our ancestors. This article also provides information on the reasons behind the spiritually correct methods to be adopted - right from the collection of ashes to its final disposal.

Finding greater inner peace doesn't have to be a vague, metaphysical pursuit. Aikido Kokikai offers you clear and pragmatic ideas to help you catch a better feeling today, and then grow that feeling throughout your life. These four basic principles can seem simple, or extraordinarily complex. But the amazing thing is, they seem to apply to absolutely everything we encounter in life.

There is a lot of discussion about ki, as though it is some kind of mysterious force. But actually, everyone has experienced ki in their life. And we can all learn to increase our ki power.

Ki can be thought of as positive thinking, belief in yourself, faith, confidence, or a state of mind/body unification. You have used ki quite naturally many times in your life, at those moments when something totally captured your interest and imagination. It may have been while you were playing a sport, working late into the morning on a project that was important to you, playing with your child, or simply spending time with someone you love.

The best thing about mind/body training is how it makes you feel inside. But maybe the second best thing is, it lets you do impressive stuff you couldn't do otherwise. Like make it impossible for someone much bigger than yourself to bend your arm. Or make your body feel so heavy that two people can't lift you off the ground - even though they could a moment before. These Cool Ki Tricks are certainly cool, but they also teach you a lot about your mind/body state.

Want to learn more about the unusual martial art that inspired the Body Mind & Modem Web Site? This is the place to do it. Learn why training to defend yourself against violent attacks helps you to develop inner peace. Discover more about the incredible man who founded Aikido Kokikai. Find out about the dojo (school) where the Body Mind & Modem Web Site originated. And other equally fascinating stuff.

I think the focal point of mainstream religion has changed - http://www.ebook-search-queen.com/ebook/reli/religion+and+ethics.all.html .That’s part of the “see the world in black and white” that the fundamentalists find so important about their “my way or the highway to hell”. Its far easier to use religion as the label for making oneself feel better or more important than someone else. I don’t murder, so I’m better/God loves me more than…

I have to link to this blog because I think that is so important when it comes to manifestation and getting what you want in life. All the great successful people in the world today did some form of visualization. And a vision board is one of the most powerful manifestation tools to date in my opinion.

Looking so Kumbh Mela of 1895 is wonderful, the power of a faith like that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such.

Only a supremely powerful intellect could pierce of veil of hypnotic deception to bring the truth to the teeming masses of smooth-brained mouthbreathers that we all must be. Such courage and mental prowess in the mind of a single person. Thank you so much for attempting to free me of my mental prison of hypnotic malaise. His neck must be substantially stronger than the average “man-on-the-street” to…

idk if they are real or not. i’ve never seen them. but as big as this earth is, wt makes you think we’re the only one’s here. we have animals. y wouldn’t there be any other animals we don’t know about? think about it. there is a lot of things we thought were real a long time ago that wasn’t. like the world being flat. n things we thought…

of course mermaids and mermen are real, maybe not thease ones but were d yu think thay got the idea from,if no one believes in thease myths then christmas wouldnt be, all the stories for children wouldnt be oh how sad, and thats coming from me a banshe with a leprichourn for a husband lol..x